Walking and eating Istanbul

If the Earth were a single state, Istanbul would be its capital. – Jeremy Isaac once said.

We couldn’t agree more. Istanbul is one of the biggest city in the world. Actually, it’s not big, it’s huge, it’s beautiful and it’s magical! If you’re a food lover as we are then Istanbul has to be on your travelling list. But how to find the best eateries, restaurants or cafes in the area between two continents?

Istanbul was our honeymoon destination. For our early wedding present, we got a fantastic Culinary Backstreets voucher to visit Istanbul’s most traditional and unique places for eating ant to get to know best places. Go check them, it’s not only Istanbul, they have few other cities on the list you can register for a food tour!

We took a tour called Two markets, two continents. What does this mean?

This tour is divided in between two continents – morning tea and breakfast in Europe, and the rest of places in Asia. We had an amazing tour guide Senem. She told us soooooo much about Turkish food culture!

Everything started in a very traditional way – morning tea in tea makers place you would never find on your own – hidden in the old warehouses. Tea is a very big thing in Istanbul. They still have special houses and special people, who are real pros’ in tea making. It is still common to buy special tea tokens and you get your tea delivered to your home or your work.

We continued with Turkish breakfast – eggs, cheese, vegetables. A chef who made us breakfast is working in his place with his wife for more than 20 years and he makes pictures with every guest.

The rest of the tour we have spent on the Asian side of Istanbul and it included Turkish coffee, appetizers (mezes), dried fruits, pickled vegetables, lunch, snacks, soups, desserts. Turkish people love their food and they are proud of their cuisine, that’s why you will find a lot of traditional places to eat and not that much of Indian, Thai or whatever other places.

Throughout all this walking tour guide explains a history of Istanbul, public transport system and other miscellaneous information about the city life. Don’t get scared away from the price – you will be eating all day long and you will get to know so much about Istanbul and it’s culture.

Our recommendations:

Take this walk as early as possible, because later You will feel as a local in this huge city and this will make your trip smoother.

If you have a layover in Istanbul for 10-12 hours just check the possibility of doing this walk. This is the best experience of this multicultural city if you have very limited time.

Have you ever tried this kind of tour? We would love to hear about your experiences!